


New Year, New Me

by honeybody



Category: Pocket Monsters: Sun & Moon | Pokemon Sun & Moon Versions
Genre: Alcohol, Drama & Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff, Slow Burn, mmm tall lean bean gets me steamy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-01-02
Packaged: 2019-10-03 03:05:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,577
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17275907
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honeybody/pseuds/honeybody
Summary: At the New Years Eve Festival, you encounter a pissy old friend with no where to go.A typical fanfic where Guzma is a broken man who becomes your roommate. Both of you are of legal drinking age. Takes place after us/um, where you're the champion of Alola and basically picks up a while after the game left off.





	New Year, New Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> New Years Eve Festival!

You’re filled to the brim with equal proportions excitement and dread to the point where you thought you were going to burst. It had been a few years since you first moved to Alola, but no matter how comfortable you got the parties always made you feel antsy. You couldn’t skimp out now though, it’s the New Years Eve Festival! A few of your friends would be there so it wouldn’t be terrible, and this one only lasted until midnight unlike the Dawn Festival which lasted until dawn, or what seemed like forever. You were so happy that this one fell on a Saturday, so you weren’t forced to rise early and battle with a hangover.

 

You sat at your vanity slathering your eyelids in gold eyeshadow with a bold black wing, nude lipstick leaving all the attention to your eyes. It’s a striking look, but compared to the other natives you were under-doing it. You splashed a little gold highlighter on your cheeks, and satisfied with the amount of glitter adorning your face, you slip into your red and black festival clothes and head out. 

 

On your walk to the beach you see many other excited families giggling with excitement, children bouncing about, all heading towards the booming bass and colorful lights. The sun had just set, and yet the beach looked like it was lighting up the world in its place. Given the time of year and the time of day, it was awfully chilly out. You had been to the festival last year and know very well that once you get to the beach, all the movement and torches will heat you right up, so it wasn't a problem that your dress was a little showy. The streetlights were hung with decorative new years charms and chimes, the gold embellishments glittering in the light. Children rush past you, eager to take part in all the excitement. As you get closer to the music, you chuckle at all the teenagers in gold face paint, wearing silk gold robes and tassels. You really were under-doing it. 

 

You search around the beachfront for your friends, Lillie and Hau were joining you again for this special occasion. You didn’t see them much anymore, having completed the Island Challenge and everyone off to do bigger and better things, but you three always made sure to stay in touch and reconnect at the multitude of Alolan festivals. 

 

Your eyes sparkle in the lights of the booths at the festival. Looking around, you admire the vast array of colors laid out before you, from souvenirs to candles to prayer charms to sandwiches. There was so much crammed on the beach, including people, and Lillie and Hau were nowhere in sight. You think hard, trying to channel your inner Hau. _ “If I was Hau, where would I be…” _ you wonder. You scan your surroundings once more, your eyes drifting from stranger to stranger and from stand to stand until…  _ “Malasadas!! That’s it!” _ You immediately make headway to the one and only malasadas stand at the New Years Eve festival, and sure enough Hau and Lillie are happily munching away at the tasty treat, waving you over.

 

“Hey!! Figured you’d turn up eventually,” Hau laughs with his mouth full, now that he’s grown up he looks and sounds so much like Hala, especially with that boisterous laugh of his. Lillie gives you a loving side-hug, careful not to get any sugar on you, and Hau does the same. You order a malasada for yourself and for a while you three just stand by the booth, chatting and chowing down on some delicious treats. 

 

Lille has traded out her standard all-white outfit for a flowy dress of red and gold, her matching earrings swaying with her every movement. You and Lillie both laugh at Hau, who decided that throwing some gold glitter on his black shirt would be enough for the occasion, and for thinking that it goes perfectly with his hawaiian shorts. It’s popular to ditch the shoes at this festival, people learned year after year there is no effective way to keep the sand out of their shoes, and taking off shoes allows people to become better in tune with their surroundings and nature or something like that. With the sun set, the sand has become pleasantly cool, and the salty Alolan breeze offsets the heat emanating from the torches lining the festival. 

 

Being champion has its pros and cons. Pros: you’re the super coolest most strongest person in all of Alola, nobody messes with you (except challengers). Cons: people always come up to you during your off-hours trying to ask for some favor only you can do, and you spend the entirety of 5 out of 7 days of the week defending your title in the league. Today was no exception, passerbys continuously chatted you up about whatever they could think of, and pretty soon you were all peopled out. Sometimes they had super cute pokemon though, which made the unavoidable socializing bearable. It wasn’t that you didn’t like socializing, but you cherished your alone time. Especially since it’s New Years Eve, everybody and his brother needs to wish you a prosperous coming year, and to ask about a favor next week. 

 

“Guys, look!” You yelled over the thumping drums, pointing to the lineup of people and Marowaks at the shore. Marowaks and dancers were juggling torches on the beach, ankle deep in water. You three take a moment to be mesmerized by fire jugglers, fixated by the twirling torches that seem to be made of gold themselves. It’s impressive how they got people and Marowaks to do the same dance, but with Kiawe in the middle you can take a guess as to how they got they dance down so well. 

 

The festival is all too beautiful, the black sky only amplifies the glowing gold's of the decorations, everybody’s dressed in mixes of red, black, and gold to symbolize the blood of this years pain, the black suffering we let go, and the promise of a golden new year to come. Some booths even sold pokemon attire in the festival colors, and you and Lillie squealed over the cute Eevee’s wearing glittering bandanas. The cool beach sand seems to have been dusted with gold glitter, and a fleeting thought passes through your mind to remember not walk inside your house barefoot. Fire jugglers perform by the shore, booths line where the pavement meets the sand, and all sorts of drummers and entertainers linger in the space in between. A big, new, modern clock accompanies the stereotypical western disco ball off to the side, counting down the minutes and hours until the new year hit. 

 

2 hours and 14 minutes left, parents begin shuttling their worn out toddlers home to come back and start the drinking. Your trio decides now would be a fantastic time to drown the constant thumping drums with a drink or two. Hau is still underage, but he sure does love a good sugary drink, alcohol or not.

 

You walk up to one of the many bars stationed around to order drinks, Hau and Lillie manning a table off to the side. Uh oh! The bartender’s cute. He’s a lean tan guy with a little stubble, and pearly white teeth that sparkle when he smiles.

 

“What can I get ya?” he says in his smooth foreign accent, smiling at you. You smile back, “Can I get a Pomeg Daiquiris, a Pinap colada, and a virgin rum and coke?”

 

“You mean just a coke?” he lets out a beautiful laugh, “Comin’ right up,” he says, totally checking you out. You look back towards where Hau and Lillie are sitting, they’re talking and laughing as usual. “Actually,” you say, leaning over the counter, “Can you add a little extra rum in the Daiquiri?” You’re gonna need a buzz fast to help you deal with the mass of people for the rest of the night. 

 

“Need a little extra kick?” he says, fiddling with some plastic cups. 

 

“I like ‘em strong.” you smile, looking at his tanned arms, still leaning on the counter. He smirks, and you blush at how bold you’re being. Drinks haven’t even started yet and you’re already stepping out of your comfort zone.

 

After a few moments he slides two plastic cups across the counter and hands the last one directly to you, his hand lingering for a moment. “This one is specially for you, it’s bright and red, just how  _ I _ like it,” he says smoothly, looking down at your bright red outfit. You blush, give him your best smile, and admire the gold flakes he put in the drink. You pay, leaving a handsome tip in the Meowth jar and saunter over to Hau and Lillie with the drinks, swaying your hips because you know he’s watching. 

 

Your trio starts chatting again and after a few moments Hau blurts out, “Who’s the bartender you’ve been drooling over?” he smirks, poking at you.

 

“W-what do you mean?” You choke, and immediately try to play it off.

 

“C’mon, don’t pretend you haven’t been staring at him this whole time. We’ve been sitting right here, watching you two make googly eyes at each other.” Lillie shrugs, taking another sip of her daiquiri. You try to explain yourself when Hau cuts in,

 

“Hey hey! There’s nothing wrong with trying to get a little action New Years Eve, gotta start the new year off right! There’s a girl back by the jewelry stand I might try to get with tonight!” Hau proclaims, and you internally cringe and try to convince yourself that Hau is still a good little cinnamon roll who doesn’t know what a boob is. 

 

“Hau’s right. This is the first time in a long time we’ve seen you even  _ look  _ at another human with anything other than indifference. Go have some fun!” Lillie says uncharacteristically. She would usually tell you to be careful and that there is nothing wrong with staying safe and in your comfort zone, but you suppose that alcohol did take its toll rather fast. 

 

A couple more drinks and a couple more trips to the bar later and you find out his name is Kai, he was born on an island far away from Alola, and he’s works in a fancy restaurant on Alaka part-time making drinks. He’s happy with his life, but he’s been feeling a little lonely, and hopes the new year will bring him someone cute with a description that oddly seems to fit you. You blush and return his flirts, wondering if it could go anywhere past a one night stand. It’s been a while since you’ve had any romantic encounters, but that doesn’t mean you should rush one just because you’re a little lonely, or should you?

 

“Well, what do you want from him? A good night?” Hau slurs, sloshing around his drink. There's only 45 minutes until the new year and you three have visited every booth and tried a good variety of drinks, you guys are feeling pretty loose, to say the least. More people have been funneling out into the beach, things getting rowdy in anticipation for the ball drop. Lillie isn’t looking too good, her arm thrown around Hau and her mouth permanently agape. 

 

“I dunno,” you shrug, “like I want someone but I don’t want to make a mistake, and he's got my number now,” 

 

“Well, I dunno, just go with yer gut!” Hau smiles, and Lillie is suddenly making very strange and unsettling noises. 

 

“Uh oh,” you and Hau say at the same time, and before you know it Lillie is spilling her guts in a garbage can. She always was a lightweight. 

 

“You okay cleaning up princess pukes-a-lot? I’m gotta go take a minute, got a pounding headache” you suggest, and he nods tossing her arm over his shoulder once more, helping her to some water and napkins. You make your way away from the beach, you’ve been feeling a headache climbing on and the drums and yells of the crowd have been amplified due to the alcohol. 

 

It’s pitch black out, the streets are barren, you like it. You love it, actually, the eery desolation of the route, the dim street lights gently illuminating the foliage. You’ve become entranced, making your way down the street soaking in the silence, bare feet gliding over the smooth cool pavement. The buzzing in your head dissipates quickly in the night, thank Arceus. You almost miss the body sitting still as the night on the bench, it surprises you seeing someone alone tonight, besides yourself. Tonight is party night! It only takes you a second to recognize the messy mop of white hair glaring down at the sidewalk, bottle in hand, clearly pouting. You take the seat next to him.

 

You didn’t hate Guzma. Time had passed at healed what open wounds were left, but the scars of Team Skull still remained in the rumours of what had become of the team leader and admin. He never really hurt anybody, his team just stole pokemon, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. Even though he was being used, it wasn’t an excuse for his actions, yet still you harborned no ill will towards him. If anything, you might’ve had a small baby teeny tiny crush on him. Maybe.

 

“Whatcha doin’ out here all alone on New Years Eve? Figured you’d be out partying with your former grunts,” You say lowly, speaking at all seems to disrupt the serenity of the moment. 

 

“Yeah, well, shit happened.” He growls, taking another swig of what you assumed was alcohol. 

 

You knew he didn’t hate you. Even during the island challenge, when he made fun of you for doing it when you were older than Hau but still the same height, it was just playful banter. You called him bug boy, he called you squirt, you battled him and won, he got mad, got over it and the cycle started over. You even caught him drinking Tapu Cocoa at a pokecenter once and talked to him for a while on a personal level. His big bad getup was just to get the grunts hyped, and you found him oddly charming; unconventionally attractive. You talked to him a few times after he disbanded Team Skull, he still hung around with a lot of them and from what you heard last he was still going strong, even training with Hala again. 

 

“What happened?” you say softly, you did have a soft spot for the big bad wolf, and no matter how loud he growled you knew he wouldn’t bite  _ you _ . 

 

“Weren’t you listenin’? Shit happened.” he barks back. He buries his hand in his hair and continues his stare-down with the ground.

 

“Oh, c’mon, fess up. What’s up?” you try again, he was a difficult egg to crack but you’d crack him even if you had to bang him over the counter. You turn away, blushing hard, dammit that's not what you meant! You don’t want to bang him, just be his friend. Yeah. You’ve had a few drinks, and that bartender has been planting thoughts in your head, dirty girl. 

 

He sighs, and after a moment he lifts his head. “I was on a roll trainin’ n’ shit. Gettin’ real good. But then, I dunno, somethin’ in me just snapped and I scared away the grunts few nights ago, Hala got real pissed and told me to think ‘bout what I did but fuck, I’m real tired of thinkin’. I just keep scaring everyone away. New years ain’t shit.” he says, his voice rough. He takes another swig of his drink. 

 

Your heart swells and you feel sympathetic. You can’t stand anybody feeling bad, especially one of your friends. Guzma left a lot unsaid, but it’s clear he’s hurting. You put a hand on his back, rubbing your hand gently across it, like you’re trying to soothe a wild pokemon. 

 

“You’re not gonna scare me away, I’ll kick your ass before that happens,” you laugh, trying to lighten the mood. 

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” he huffs. He turns his head towards you slightly and offers his bottle, “Want a drink? ‘S rum.” 

 

You take a sip and indeed, it is a strong rum with a coconut flavor, and now you’re the one holding the bottle, looking at the ground. You turn to him.

 

“Wanna come down to the beach with me? Beats sittin’ out here alone. The balls about to drop, always wondered it's like for guys to hit puberty.” he snorts at your joke, and sits back against the bench.

 

“Yeah? Then why’d you come down here, huh?” he crosses his arms. 

 

“To find you, duh,” you smile, and he raises his eyebrows, calling your bluff.

 

“Lets go, string bean,” you rise from the bench, and after a moment of hesitation he gets up too, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets and following you down the route back down to the beating drums and glimmering lights, the two of you making jokes the whole way there. 

 

The 10 minute countdown has started blaring through the speakers, and you decide it’s too short of a time to find Hau and Lillie, you just hope they’re okay. Guzma’s got no clue about personal space, and he keeps bumping up against you and getting a little up in your space whenever you guys talk. It is nice to hear him laugh though, and you got a good hardy snort out of him from saying that one of the new captains looks like a thumb. 

 

5 minutes left, all the booths have been abandoned and everybody’s crowding around the clock and ball (he laughed at that too, dirty boy) and you two find yourself in the midst of many huddled bodies, each one staring at the screen and shouting the time. Each one but Guzma, who’s been stealing glances at you, which you would’ve missed if you hadn’t been glancing at him too. He’d complimented your shirt a few minutes ago, saying “you look like some cute fuckn china doll or whatever,” which stuck with you way longer than Kai’s compliments earlier. 

 

Between the screaming people and chirping pokemon, you can hardly hear yourself think, even though your buzz has subsided. You think you saw Hau and Lillie way over there, but you’ll be caught dead before you try to wiggle your way through the crowd. You glance over and Guzma’s not chanting with the rest of the crowd, but he is eagerly looking at the screen, and you could swear he almost looks just as excited as you. Somehow the gold glitter plaguing the festival has made its way into his hair, and subsequently on his face like shiny freckles. The drums stop.

 

5…

4…

3…

2…

1…

BOOM.

 

The ball drops with a loud clang and the drums resume, loud as ever, and everyone is kissing and hugging and without a second thought you pull Guzma down into a big ol hug and give him a fat kiss on the cheek. He looks utterly stunned. Completely speechless. You are too for a second, but now everyone is cheering and you cheer too, “Happy New Year Guzma!”, and hug him again. He doesn’t say anything, but he doesn’t look mad.

 

After a few moments the cheering has dissipated and the drums have silenced, shops are packing up and people are making their way back home, both you and Guzma have pretty much sobered up. You give up on trying to find Lillie and Hau at this point, opting instead to shoot them a text,  _ Happy new year!!! Hope lillie is ok sorry i couldnt find you guys, see u later!! _

 

You and Guzma are standing off to the side under a streetlight, getting ready to head home yourselves.

 

“Want me to take you back to Hala’s?” you offer, “I got a pager,” you hold it up.

 

“Nah nah,” he responds quickly, “Hala said not to come back till I think about what I done, and honestly I’m still kinda pissed.”

 

“Well where ya staying? I’ll walk ya and keep you safe,” you wink, flexing your noodle arm at him. His hand reflexively shoots to his undercut, rubbing the short black hair. His face flashes instantly with regret. “Uhhhh,” he stalls, trying to come up with something on the fly. You glare at him and turn to face him head-on.

 

“You don’t have anywhere to stay do you?” you accuse. He doesn’t look at you. “Uhhhhhh,” is all he can manage to spit out, you can tell he’s embarrassed. Another flash of sympathy surges through you, and you sigh.

 

“You can crash a night at my place tonight if you want, I can’t leave ya out here especially on New Year's,” you shrug. You’re not sure if its the remnants of alcohol clouding your judgement, but it doesn’t feel like anything bad will come from this. Usually you get a funny feeling when something bad is going to happen, but your spidey senses are silent. After a moment, he shrugs.

 

“Shit, I dunno, if you’re really alright with it. I ain’t got no money though,” he stuffs his hands back in his pockets. “Good thing I ain’t asking for money,” you retort. “I live just up the route, c’mon toothpick,” 

 

You two walk up the route, silent, enjoying the silence, mutually savoring it after all the commotion you just experienced. You’re much shorter than him, and yet the two of you walk at the same pace. You steal glances at him, watching him hunched over, thinking. He still wears the same outfit even after he disbanded Team Skull and, miraculously, its not covered in holes. His shoes, however, are packed in mud and torn in places. His pants are almost as baggy as his eyes; he looks tired as ever.

 

After wiping off as much glitter as you two can from your clothes, you unlock the door with a  _ click _ , and several excited pokemon scratch at the door, happy to see you again. However, as soon as they lay sight on Guzma, they all move into defensive position. 

 

“Hey hey hey guys! It’s okay, he’s a friend, remember? No battles tonight.” you coo, petting and calming your frazzled pokemon. You forgot that even though you’ve become somewhat friends with him, he’s never officially met your pokemon! Shame on him. Though, you’ve never met his either, except in battle. Shame on you too.

 

“Guzma, these are my pokemon, you’ve seen a few of them before. Don’t worry, they don’t know bite.” you joke, pulling blankets out of the side closet in the living room. He sits awkwardly on the couch, taking off his shoes and setting them by the front door. Your house is made out of something that looks like wood, but is far more resistant. The dark walls are illuminated by gentle yellow lamps, giving your house a warm, homey feeling. Your gengar floats around Guzma, a devious smile on his face. Well, more devious than usual, and you point a stern finger at him. “No tricks.” you tell him sternly. You grab a pillow off your bed and come back to the living room only to catch Guzma loving on your lurantis. Even though she’s a grass type, she’s still technically a bug, and chirps softly at his affectionate pets. 

 

“Hey squirt you better watch out, I think she likes me more than you,” he grins, it makes your tummy flutter, you don’t know why. Must be really tired, huh?

 

“She’s a total sucker for the pets, but she knows only I have the best rainbow beans,” you hummed, setting the pillow down next to him. “Can I get you anything?” you ask him like the good host you are, “Water, another pillow, uh, heroine?” 

 

“Shit, maybe some crack.” he says, obviously joking. Crack is bad, kids. 

 

“Haha, well, cups are in that cabinet,” you point, “bathroom’s down the hall, my bedroom is the one with the door shut, and the pokemon should leave you alone unless you want them to cuddle, then just ask ‘em,” you eye the salandit you just started training, who’s resting on the windowsill. “That salandit is a real one for cuddling,” you humm.

 

“Aight, aight.” he nods, taking his jacket off and resting it on the arm of the couch, and begins arranging himself, thankfully your couch is long enough to accommodate him. You got the extra long couch so your pokemon could stretch out with you. Glancing over at him, you see his arms are lean, but muscular, and he’s got a farmers tan from that stupid short sleeve jacket. His loose, white t-shirt is in desperate need of a washing. Somehow, even though Kai was much more conventionally attractive and technically should have been more charming, there’s just something that doesn’t sit right with you about him. Something about this though feels right. Feelings are weird. 

 

Your bare feet unfortunately do track glitter into the house, you let out a loud yawn and make your way over to your room.

 

“Hey,” he says, and you stop at your door, turning back to him, “thanks for lettin’ me stay. Tonight was cool,” he says, totally uncooly. 

 

“Yeah! No prob, I get up early so sorry if I wake you up tomorrow.” you reply softly, and smile, entering your room and shutting the door behind you. A few moments later and you’re in pj’s, face washed, sprawled out in your queen-sized bed, gengar curled at your feet. 

  
  
  


Guzma lays there, on the couch you've had for years, staring at the ceiling, mind going too fast to fall asleep. What the hell happened tonight? He started out getting called out by his former grunts, getting told what a pisser he is and no he can’t come to the party, not after he called Maggie a big ol slut and threw up on Jason when he was drunk. He regretted starting that fight with Ethan, both of them getting the shit knocked out of them and Guzma practically being exiled from the group. Weeks had gone past since the fight but still they wouldn’t forgive him, not even as former boss. He blew up on Hala last week and has been living on the streets ever since, too stubborn to go back and apologize. Next thing he knew he was drinking on a bench when  _ she  _ shows up, lookin’ all cute and shit and convincing him to go to the beach festival with her. Now he’s laying on her couch under a solid roof and not freezing cold anymore, salandit snoring on his lap.

 

He’s been so mixed up recently. He had a good thing going after the team broke up but things just don’t feel right anymore. His dad was right, he will always be a fuck up and he’s been scaring everyone away and shit and going back to his parents will  _ never _ be an option. He thinks back to what she said earlier,  _ “You’re not gonna scare me away, I’ll kick your ass before that happens.” _

 

He sighs, a deft hand stroking the salandit on his lap, the other tugging at his hair. Fuck, if she's letting him stay there he might as well sleep, and so he does, the first full night of rest he’s gotten in a long time.

**Author's Note:**

> hahahaa... forgive me


End file.
